CITY ART

Still working in black and white so here is another of my city pictures.I think cities are the true living art form. They are an ever changing visual art work which makes living and visiting cities so exhilarating.

YONGE STREET, TORONTO

This picture is for Dominique and Carole, who enjoy my black and white pictures. So thanks for the comments I really appreciate them.

TEMPERANCE STREET, TORONTO

When I just arrived in Toronto, I worked for a photographer who had his office on Temperance street in Toronto. This street, like most places downtown, has been totally transformed. The old office where I worked is gone. Just a parking lot surrounded by tall buildings has replaced the early twentieth century building, changing the whole feeling of the place. I guess thats progress.Pity.

INFRA-RED LANDSCAPE

I made this rather classical landscape a few days ago when we enjoyed some sunshine. The cloudy skies were beautiful, which gave me the idea to work in infrared to emphasize the dramatic effect on landscape images.

DOOR, TORONTO

Walking through a dark little passage between two old buildings downtown Toronto I noticed this small metal door. I thought about the Harry Potter books and imagined walking through this old door into a completely magical world. Nonsense? Maybe.

DINER INTERIOR

Yesterday my friend Rob asked if the food at this diner was any good. So here is an interior view just for him. Yes the breakfast was fine and quite a bit cheaper than the $14.00 the hotel would charge for a similar meal.Of course it was not as fancy as the hotel restaurant but I thought definitely more colourful.

BREAKFAST

I had to spend a few days in Toronto. It was a short visit so I only took a few pictures. as a photographer I always look for interesting scenery, so when I was looking for a place to have breakfast I saw this fine eatery, of course it made for a good urban landscape image.

REFLECTION

I have not posted any pictures lately. I simply did not find any images which I thought would be visually interesting. Today I saw this reflection in the back of a tanker truck and yes it turned into a good image. I post this picture for rmy sister Marijke who just lately discovered my blog. Dus misschien is het tijd om af en toe ook een Nederlandse vertaling te geven. Deze reflectie in the achterkant van een tank wagen heb ik net vanmorgen gemaakt. De laatste tijd heb ik niet veel foto's op mijn blog gezet om de eenvoudige reden dat ik niet genoeg geinspireerd dat komt af en toe wel eens voor.

SECRET GARDEN

One advantage of all the rain we are getting this Summer is that the gardens look very lush and colourful. This part of the garden is my wife's favourite. She calls it her "secret garden".

MUGEI-MUMEI NO-JITSU WU HSIN

This week I photographed this fisher on the dock here in North Bay. What peaked my curiosity was the tattoo on his back. I had no idea what it meant but after a little searching on the net I discovered that the translation simply means "No-Name No Art". It is the motto of the world wide martial arts organization The Black Dragon Temple.

GARDEN TEXTURES

This week I did not get a chance to post any pictures. I have been busy teaching a week workshop on Photoshop Elements. Yesterday I did have some time to take some pictures in our garden. The garden looks spectacular after all the rain we received in the last few weeks. This picture shows the great variety of textures of the hostas and ferns.

BEFORE THE RAIN

At least this rainy weather is good if you like the dramatic effect of cloudy skies, which is ideal for good black and white pictures.

SUPERWIDE

my friend Steve lent me his super wide zoom lens so I could try it out. Normally I don't work with extreme wide angle lenses so it takes some adjusting to get to know the visual possibilities of this type of lens.

WELCOME, AHNIIN, BIENVENUE

Driving through Sturgeon Falls, Ontario this morning, I noticed this wooden statue outside a motel. Of course I had to take some pictures. Its pure folk art.

CLOUD

It looked almost like Summer this morning but by the afternoon the clouds started to roll in bringing lots of rain and thunderstorms.

BARN, POWASSAN, ONTARIO

With all the rain and dark skies we are getting lately I think black and white is the best way to make images reflecting this type of dark unsettling weather.

SWAMP NEAR WASI LAKE

I passed this creek running through a swamp on the road to Wasi Lake. What really caught my eye were the dramatic sky and the reflection in the water. To emphasize the clouds I decided to print the image dark which increased the dramatic aspect of this scene.

SUMMER, WASI LAKE

Titled this picture Summer because that season started today. Actually you might not think so with all the rain we are getting. It feels and looks more like early Spring. However today I went on another of my photo excursions. I came to Wasi Lake near Powassan and got a few nice images. Taking pictures is very much like fishing, you take some interesting pictures but not until you download them do you know if you have images you can get excited about.This image is one I really enjoy.

WALL AND POST

What can I say about this image? I like to simplify the subject to just texture and contrast. So simply enjoy.

POPPIES

The poppies in our garden are magnificent this Spring. Maybe it was the wet weather or the right soil. I just like to photograph them. My wife does the work of course and I benefit of her labour. This time I experimented with a technique I learned from Corey Barker. Photoshop allows you to use a wide variety of techniques which might not be strictly photographic but gives startling visual effects.

WALL ABSTRACT

I always enjoy abstract subject matter, so when I go on a photo tour I simply can't resist making this type of images like this wall in downtown North Bay.

RAINY DAY

We have had quite a bit of rain lately but the dark wet days also bring beautiful colours. I just love taking pictures when the sky is overcast. So here is a picture of our garden which I took this afternoon.

KATE PACE WALKWAY, NORTH BAY

The Kate Pace Walkway is a walking and bicycle path which takes you from the North Bay waterfront all the way to the village of Callander.The landscape varies widely starting along Lake Nipissing then following Chippewa Creek through downtown North bay and going through marshlands close to Callander.

SUNSET, CALLANDER BAY

Thanks Nonie and André for your comments on my picture of Lake Nipissing. Last night I took this image along the lakefront in Callander. I still enjoy black and white photography so , even though I don't use the traditional darkroom anymore, I love making digital black and white prints. Actually I am thinking of running a course strictly on making digital black and white pictures depending on the level of interest of course.

LAKE NIPISSING

It has been a wet month of may here in Northern Ontario. Of course the dramatic skies added greatly to the visual impact of black and white images.

STRANDED

Last February (see "One Eye Folly") I posted a picture of the pinhole camera boat. Well, this boat is still stranded here in North Bay.Maybe waiting for the right tide or wind. Who knows.

MONGOLIAN GERR, NORTH BAY, ONTARIO

J.S Redpath, a Mining contractors and engineers company here in North Bay, brought back a very decorative Mongolian gerr. This gerr is a traditional dwelling but this one is very richly decorated with intricate handpainted designs.

AGAIN THE WASI RIVER

This picture is for Eric. I just wanted to show how different light changes the mood of an image. I took this picture yesterday on a dark and wet day. hope you like it.

WASI RIVER, CALLANDER, ONTARIO

A beautiful day for taking pictures. The back lighting created an enormous contrast between the white water and the very dark shadows of the rocks and trees. Knowing the scene I knew it had to be black and white. The high contrast accentuated the texture of the water.

SPRING RAIN

May is the time for the Spring rains. I like the dark rainy atmosphere, it is a good time to make images with rich colours and textures accentuated by the rain.

MARSH MARIGOLD

The Marsh Marigold(Caltha palustris)is one of the early Spring flowers. Its a joy just to see the splashes of yellow in a marsh or along a forest stream.

LOOKING NORTH, TORONTO

An early Saturday view of Yonge street looking North. A few weeks ago I read the book Consolation by Michael Redhill. Its a great story about Toronto in the mid nineteenth century and the late twentieth. I enjoyed the book very much, especially the descriptions of the old and new Toronto and ,as a photographer,the making of the panoramic images of the city. In the image I just posted you can clearly see the progression of history in the architecture from the late nineteen century till today.

ALLEY, TORONTO

Still showing pictures of last weeks trip to T.O Walking though an alley downtown I saw this painting. Of course I couldn't resist taking a picture. I like te contrast but also the different textures of te wall surfaces.

YONGE STREET, TORONTO

It looks colourful but its actually sad to see the buildings on Yonge street so neglected. Pity.

APPLE TREE

Spring at last. The early morning light and the apple blossom just had to be photographed.Enjoy.

STORE FRONT, TORONTO

I enjoy walking around a city. What interests me is the architecture and the interesting patterns, shapes and colours of the buildings, walls and other interesting surfaces like this small store squeezed between other older buildings while the condos keep rising behind them.

PAINTER, TORONTO

This weekend we visited Toronto. Early yesterday morning walking down Yonge street I saw this "artist" painting the front of a small store.

DUCHESNAY FALLS, NORTH BAY

Spring rain. These last few days we had quite a bit of rain. The gardens are quickly becoming green. The gardeners cant wait to get into the flowerbeds. So I thought to post a very romantic picture of Duchesnay Falls to welcome the new gardening season.

EDUCATION CENTRE, NORTH BAY

Walking near the education centre here in North Bay, I noticed smoke coming out of the teepee. I was struck by the contrast of the traditional first nations architecture and the modern buildings of the college and university.The teepee is being used by the first nations students for some ceremonies at the beginning and the end of the study year.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

This image is part of an ongoing project on city landscapes. I made this image a few weeks ago in downtown Ottawa.

TOMATOES

A bowl with tomatoes and experimenting wit a new technique, well new for me, made for a good exercise in colour,light and shadow.

AMERICA, OTTAWA

Thanks Adam M for your posting. Here is another picture I did in Ottawa a few weeks ago. I saw this guy downtown and was simply curious about the leather jacket.

SPRING TRAIL, LAKE NIPISSING

Early Spring on one of my favourite trails along the shore of Lake Nipissing. It is a very nice trail but it is really upsetting to see all the garbage, empty popcans, plastic water bottles and bags, left behind. So much for our environmental concern.

MELTING

The ice is quickly disappearing from the lake. I liked the textures and patterns of the melting ice.

ALONG THE SHORELINE

Thanks for your posting Monika. I am glad you so obvious enjoyed the picture. Tonight I walked along the shore of my favourite lake. it was a beautiful evening, actually it was our first really warm day. It was so enjoyable to see the shapes and patterns of the rock again. Don't get me wrong I do like Winter but I am always happy to see the arrival of Spring.

SPRING IS HERE!

At last, Spring has arrived. Last night I took some pictures of the breakup of the ice on Lake Nipissing and let me tell you it was great to see the snow runof and the softening of the ice.

CAR RAMP, OTTAWA, ONTARIO

This rather mundane view becomes a very abstract image of different shapes and colours.

BARRYMORE'S IN BLACK AND WHITE

I guess you are right Rob so here is a black and white image of the complete building. It still looks very rundown and could do with some nice restoration.

BARRYMORE'S, OTTAWA

Visited Ottawa this weekend and spent time wandering around the Bankstreet area taking pictures. I noticed this sad looking theatre. It is a pity to see buildings like this one in such a state of decay. Sure we cannot save everything but you wonder about the history of these places and if people are even interested in keeping these architectural artifacts, after all a city is a living artwork.

ALONG THE SHORE, LAKE NIPISSING

It is a good time for me to clean out my small office. I am sorting through my files and came across this picture I took quite a few years ago of this rock along the shore of Lake Nipissing. It reminds me of some ancient prehistoric image or even a sketch by Henri Moore.